Internet of Things will change lives but govts need to address these challenges first

We all loved Jim Carry's movie- The Truman Show, where his life was broadcast live around the clock and across the globe. With IOT getting into minutest part of our lives, can the same thing happen to us? The first 3 articles talked about the different realms in which IOT is going to impact our lives. This article covers the challenges that IOT will face and the policy considerations that the companies and govts need to have.

"Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith first, the trust part comes later "
This dialogue from the Superman movie -- Man of Steel sumps up the faith we all have to on IOT systems even though there are security and privacy issues. As we have seen in the earlier three articles, IOT will be connecting billion of devices online as well as connect humans with those devices; transforming the way we live , work and play. Along with this, will come all the challenges associated with security and privacy and these need to be addressed for technology to reach its full potential.


The world will become a place where the interaction with the internet would be more from passive engagement with connected devices rather than the active engagement which we now have. The govts will have to rethink and realign their policies to ensure they are in sync with the rapidly changing environment. They need to think about the security aspects of the IOT even if they don't have plans as of now to link everything to internet.

To my mind, the following key challenges will come formost:

SECURITY
Products and services with weak security features will be vulnerable to cyber-attacks and the embedded user data could be exposed to theft or any other kind of attack.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
I can recollect two examples which showed how vulnerable our daily lives can be. First example involved the hacking of two cars by researchers. The researchers hacked into the cars, could disable the breaks wirelessly, turned the lights off and switched the breaks on. In yet another case, the researchers got a luxury yatch off the track by hacking the GPS signal that was used for navigation.

Ocean's 11
Last year, a hotel in Austria was the target of the hackers, who crippled the smart locks of the guest rooms. Because of this attack, the guests could not access their rooms and the hotel management could not even issue the new keys. The hotel had to pay ransom in Bitcoins to reactivate their systems. This highlights the potential risk that the internet of things bring to the fore.

Considering in times to come, all the critical infrastructure components could be linked to IOT, there could be severe threats to national security and chances of industrial espionage. The threats could be all pervasive- to our homes and cars, water and electricity supply companies, food and medicines supply, environment, etc.

If for eg, if the cyber attackers hacked the power distro company, they could potentially turn off the lights in a particular area. Now that is something could still be bearable but considering the mass transit systems are also linked to the power, it could result in thousands of commuters crippled in metros- underground as well as above ground. The companies have to proactively deal with such safety issues coming with the power of IOT.

PRIVACY
Since the devices would be collecting almost all kind of data which the users have agreed to share, this data could be used to draw complete profile of the users with all kind of their personal information available online. There could be potential risk of tracking and surveillance, from the data collected by the devices operating from our homes, businesses, and public environments.

Transformers are here
We all are aware how Facebook and Googles of the world keep a tab on our activities and target the ads basis our activity trail. In the age of connected homes, even the smart electricity meters can be used to find out if we are at home or gone out. Our usage behaviour can also tell the companies if we are early birds or night owls. As consumers, we need to be perceptive of how to engage with the devices and what all we are comfortable in sharing.

Life Is Beautiful
However inspite of all these concerns, the IOT is going to be transformative and the disruption it is going to cause is going to be unprecedented. Companies will have new streams of revenue and greater insights into the mind of consumer. This will help them in building better products which are not factory based but customized as per needs of individual consumers. For consumers, this is going to be life changing. Whether the changes are around health applications, smart transportation solutions leading to good work life balance or more value from goods and services, the benefits are enormous.

(The author is Founder and CEO of a startup. He had been working as CFO/Strategy Head with some of the global organizations in the past such as Moody's, eBay, Coke, airtel, etc. He was also on the Board of some of the companies. He writes on Strategy, Technology, Investments, Disruption and Startups).